Pandora's Box
RotG Songfic If I Die Young
JackxBunny
I do not own Rise of the Guardians or If I Die Young by The Band Perry! If I did I would not be desperately searching for scholarships to get me through college, and Bunny would have a human form!
North patted his pockets, searching for a chisel that he had been looking for. He had even called the rest of the Guardians to help him find it. Everyone except Jack showed up.
"C'mon mate," Bunny exclaimed. "You called us up for this?! I had plans! I was gonna get a head start on some new dyes for my eggs. Do you know how long it takes to make-"
"It does not matter. It is not Christmas yah?" North interrupted. "Hmm? What is this?"
He held a a card. On the front, it was black, with a splattering of shimmering stars. Written using the stars was the name "Pandora's Box", and cursive writing had the address, 1221 Winter's Peak, Burgess, Maine.
"That's a club card," Bunny ground out.
"Yes, but it has a message on the back."
"Really? Oooh! What is it?!" Tooth cried out.
She crowded over North's shoulder.
"'You all need to come tonight. -Pandora' Ooh! A secret message!"
"Yeah yeah. Look, I know you don't think-"
"Come Bunny!" North boomed. "We will go in disguise. We cannot be recognized. Change into a more...human form."
"Excuse me mate? I will have you know..."
"Yes yes! We go now!"
The sled, disguised as a red Rolls-Royce Wraith, pulled up to a small, hole-in-the-wall club. It didn't look like much, just a bright blue door covered in white frosted patterns in a broken down ivy covered brick building. A window a few stories up was shattered, and the ones on the ground level were covered with rusted bars. However, a large sign above the door read "Pandora's Box - Come in With an Open Mind, and You Never Know What You May Find." It was all different colors and seemed to shimmer much like the stars on the business card.
"Must we do this?" Bunny grumbled. He had indeed changed into a more humanoid form. He had long spikey blue-black hair, and his tribal markings from his fur had transferred onto his tan skin. He wore dark blue jeans and a leather vest holding his boomerangs. Tooth had tried to dress him up in more "club-appropriate" clothes, but he refused. He claimed that if who he thought ran this club was in charge, then she would recognize him. When asked by Tooth who this person was, he became uncommonly quiet and said mournfully, "My fiancé's sister."
Tooth fluttered around. Her hair, with all the colors of her feathers, was bound into a tight bun at the nape of her neck, much like in the military. She wore a sparkling green blouse with blue feather patterns and a bright yellow skirt. She was clinging onto North, who had only changed his clothing into red jeans, a white t-shirt and a long red leather coat.
Sandy was still short, but his hair was longer and blonde, his eyes were golden brown and his skin pale. He wore a white shirt with golden letters saying "Dream" and pale blue jeans with golden thread running though them. He pointed to the door and shrugged his shoulders.
"Yes quite right Sandy! We will not learn anything out here will we!"
Bunny muttered darkly under his breath as they approached the dilapidated building. He just knew it was going to be Cassie in there. The meddling girl he hadn't seen in - had it really been almost 300 years? He hadn't wanted to see her because of the reminders. He stared down at his broad, tan hands. A few scars decorated them, along with a blue ring with a snowflake design on his left ring finger. He rubbed it with his thumb, just as his fiancé used to as his long pale pianist fingers held his hand tightly.
North went to open the door, but someone inside swung it open. It was a small woman, about 5 feet tall if that. Her long brown hair was streaked with blue and magenta colors, which were shown off by her braid, which reached to her waist. She was pale, with leaf and vine tattoos in bright reds and oranges on her face, framing her deep brown eyes. She wore brown leather pants and a bright red silk tunic with falling leaves in orange printed on it. Her nose wrinkled as she glanced past North and Tooth to Bunny. Her eyes narrowed.
"Do you know," she hissed. "How much trouble you are in? It all could have been avoided if you just visited me! At least once!"
Bunny glanced down. "You know why Cassie. Don't you dare think I didn't want to but-" his breath caught and as his green eyes glanced up, his anguish was tangible. "But every time I see you I think of..of Him."
Cassie's eyes softened. "Oh Aster..."
Tooth frowned. "Who is 'Him'? Why are you so upset?" The unasked question was "Why do you not trust is enough to to tell us?"
Cassie glanced at the previously unseen watch on her left wrist and hummed. "Well we got time so come into my office and me and Aster-" here she cast a commanding glance at the Pooka, "will answer your questions."
Bunny looked like we was about to protest as Cassie turned to usher his friends in but one glance at them made him change his mind. North was frowning and visibly upset, Tooth was chewing on her bottom lip and casting worried glances at him and Sandy was just staring at him, nervous for his friend.
Bunny have a huge sigh. "Fine. Let's get this over with."
With that, he stormed past them into the club. It was dark, all dark stained oak floors, a deep navy blue paint on the walls, like the sky just before it became black at night, and a ceiling lit with small pin point lights like stars. There was a bar set to his left side, with drinks being advertised like, Misery, Old Age, and Last Hope. A stage was set directly in front of the door, and it was set up like a winter night with a full moon. A mike was off to one side, with a keyboard and chair behind it. Some musicians were already up there, tuning their guitars and basses, and the drummer seemed to be reading a long score of music, gently tapping to a beat. A shimmering blood red door, standing out against the dark background, was set to the right of the bar and the left of the stage, was his target as he pushed through the crowd. It wasn't a loud club, more of a place to relax and quietly chat then a place to have a mosh pit. Bunny thought about getting a drink, Misery sounded pretty good right now, but with Cassie around he figured he needed to be on his guard. He finally reached the door, but somehow Cassie and the others were already there, waiting for him.
Cassie opened the door and the others filed through. He slowly followed them, feeling as though he was marching to his doom. The office they were in, while being brighter, was in deep reds, oranges and browns, with huge comfy chairs surrounding a low snowflake shaped desk. He sat on one that was a deep blue and sunk in with a groan, closing his eyes for a moment. When he opened them again, resigned to his fate, North was sitting in a taller oak chair with Tooth on his lap, Sandy was lounging on a deep gold fainting couch and Cassie sat in a rep bean chair. He sighed leaning forward.
"I guess I should start this from the beginning. Back when my kind was, well, around, everyone knew that we had what we called jiwa jodoh, or in English, soul mate. We would know them when we saw them, and" here he looked wistfully at his ring. "And we would love them. No matter what. Around 300 years ago, I was out hiding eggs around Burgess. I came across a young boy sketching in the woods. He...he had the silkiest brown hair and the deepest brown eyes I had ever seen. I knew instantly that this was who I had been searching for. I changed to this form and prayed that he still believed. He had to be at least 15 at the time and I was so terrified he wouldn't see me. But, he did. And I learned that he didn't have money to get his friends in the village gifts, so he was sketching their favorite scenes. His name was Jack Overland. I spent weeks getting to know him, before I sent a formal letter of intent and a Courting bouquet. It had apple blossoms, aster, white chrysanthemums, delphinium, daisies, freesia, forget-me-nots, ginger, gladiolus, hyacinths, irises, ivy, jasmine, larkspur, lilac, day lilies, orchids, pansies, ranunculus, Star of Bethlehem, sunflowers, and red and yellow tulips."
"Wow!" Tooth interrupted. "That's a serious declaration."
"Yeah." Bunny ground out, glaring at her. "This isn't easy to talk about. Don't interrupt me or I might not be able to start again."
Tooth quailed under his anger. "Ok."
Bunny sighed. "I'm sorry Tooth. I didn't mean to snap. It's just hard for me to talk about."
Tooth nodded solemnly.
Bunny continued. "He came up to me the next day. He stormed right up to me and punched me right in the nose. I was scared for a moment that he was angry that I asked him. Then he told me he had been waiting for me to ask. He then kissed the living daylights out of me. We Courted from July to January. Then he...he.."
Cassie took over. "He went to the lake to skate with one of his friends, a little girl, nine years old. She didn't wait for him to check the ice. The ice was cracking so he grabbed his staff, he was a shepherd to make money for his and Aster's upcoming wedding. He pulled her out of the way, but the resulting force slung him onto the cracking ice. He was heavier and when he straightened up he fell. He couldn't swim and he drowned."
Tooth gasped. North looked desolate while Sandy glanced sadly at the ground. Bunny rubbed the ring.
But it seemed the story was not over. "I later became the spirit of autumn. And I found something. Something you all need to see tonight." She walked towards the door and peeked out. "Right in time. Come on." She glanced at Bunny. "I never told anyone these lyrics."
Before Bunny could ask what she was talking about, he heard the strum of a guitar. As he glanced at the stage, he saw Jack Frost (not Overland why couldn't it be Overland) standing in front of the mike as the band geared up behind him.
*If I die young bury me in satin
Lay me down on a bed of roses
Sink me in the river at dawn
Send me away with the words of a love song
Uh oh uh oh*
Bunny froze. It couldn't be...
Lord make me a rainbow, I'll shine down on my mother
She'll know I'm safe with you when
She stands under my colours, oh and
Life ain't always what you think it oughta be, no
Ain't even grey, but she buries her baby
The sharp knife of a short life,
Well, I've had just enough time
Bunny remembered how Jack's mother had loved rainbows, and on his funeral how this song had been sung, and a double rainbow shine overhead (on a day that should have been miserable, the whole world mourning that bright cheerful boy).
If I die young bury me in satin.
Lay me down on a bed of roses
Sink me in the river at dawn
Send me away with the words of a love song
The sharp knife of a short life,
Well I've had just enough time
All this time, right in front of him...
And I'll be wearing white when I come into your kingdom
I'm as green as the ring on my little cold finger
I've never known the lovin' of a man
But it sure felt nice when he was holding my hand
There's a boy here in town says he'll love me forever
Who would have thought forever could be severed by
The sharp knife of a short life,
Well I've had just enough time
Bunny, for the first time looked at Jack Frost, no Jack Overland's left hand and saw the green malachite ring he had been given on that autumn day when Aster proposed...
A penny for my thoughts, oh no I'll sell them for a dollar
They're worth so much more after I'm a goner
And maybe then you'll hear the words I been singin'
Funny when you're dead how people start listenin'
Bunny laughed hysterically, remembering how only after that day did the kids start waiting for others to check the thickness of the ice before skating...
If I die young bury me in satin
Lay me down on a bed of roses
Sink me in the river at dawn
Send me away with the words of a love song
Uh oh (uh oh)
Bunny remembered how much Jack had loved the feel of satin on his skin, how much he adored roses and the dawn…
The ballad of a dove
Go with peace and love
Gather up your tears, keep 'em in your pocket
Save 'em for a time when your really gonna need 'em oh
The sharp knife of a short life...
Jack had always wanted others to be happy and not to mourn him.
As the last note petered off, Jack finally looked up, and saw Bunny. He then cast a betrayed look over to Cassie, who looked vaguely smug. He climbed off the stage, then started to try to sneak out through her office, but Bunny caught up to him and grabbed his thin, pale arm. Jack turned to look defiantly up at Bunny, but that look changed into one of surprise as Bunny swiftly leaned down to kiss him. Jack, after remaining paralyzed with surprise for a moment, flung his arms around his Aster's neck and kissed him back passionately. Aster broke away after a time and buried his face into Jack's pale, slim neck. Jack felt warm tears on his neck, and heard mutterings: "You were gone you were dead oh god why didn't you say something I'm so sorry so very sorry."
Jack kissed the side of Bunny's head, reaching up his right hand to run it through Aster's hair. It seemed to calm Aster down, until he stopped muttering and merely held Jack tightly as he tapped his foot on the floor, opening a rabbit hole. He jumped in still holding Jack tightly to his chest. Silence fell over the club.
"Well that went better than expected!" Cassie exclaimed in joy. "I hope you all had fun tonight." Her expression turned vicious. "Now get out."
AN: This is my first story in about 5 years, so while I would love feedback, please, no flames! I will try to reply to any questions as quickly as possible, however I have to do this from a library computer as my parents believe Fanfiction will corrupt me or some such rot. I am still living with them an I want my life to be somewhat bearable, so….